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Sunday, 28 October 2012

Team Adventure - Only Fools and Hobbits

With
the Stinking Cloud having totally dissipated, the party were able to
combine their efforts to take on the remaining bugbears and it was not
long before they managed to overcome them. Elysia managed to cast Sleep
on two, Alurax killed one and Galadeus shot another with two arrows, one
of which found its mark straight through the heart of the snarling
beast.

The final bugbear made a run for it with Alurax
in hot pursuit. As it hurtled up the corridor, the doughty but
impetuous fighter was closing the distance when it turned and swung at
him with its morning star. Alurax was hit but moments later, managed to
run it through with his trident, killing it with a single blow.

The
rest of the party soon caught him up and found that the bugbear had
been heading for the tribal treasure room. A large hoard of loot awaited
the team, including a gold gem-encrusted clasp which was the single
most valuable item in the hoard, eight thousand gold pieces in fact.

Having
counted this out, the party decided to head back and inform the lizard
men of their actions. As they returned to the rooms wherein they had met
the scaly warriors, they noticed that they were heading towards another
room at quite a speed. Following them, they found that the lizard men
were climbing into the jaws of a huge carved lizard head on the wall of
the room. Galadeus made a lunge for the final lizard man and grabbed its
tail, only for the appendage to come off in his hand. The lizard man
vanished into the mouth of the carving and Galadeus promptly followed.

The
ranger arrived down a shaft into a room which opened onto a dock that
led to the underground river. There were several rusty old winches and
chains, some of which led up through slots in the roof. A flight of
steps led into the water and the lizard men were swimming away; Galadeus
decided to follow them.

Seconds later, Alurax
appeared, having dived down the shaft in like fashion. He saw Galadeus
swimming out into the main flow of the river but rather than follow him,
he decided to try investigating the winches instead.

By
now, Elysia, Ferros, Alagon and Gullhar had arrived at the carven
lizard head and Elysia sent Relic through to report on what had happened
on the far side. The little pseudo-dragon came back with telepathic
images of Alurax struggling with a rusty winch. Alagon went down the
shaft and joined Alurax in the chamber.

Meanwhile,
unbeknownst to the others, Galadeus had attracted the attention of a
very dangerous inhabitant of the river – one that Alurax had spotted
during the previous session and which was now headed his way again. The
swimming ranger grasped his spear and decided to take on the shark. Jabs
with his weapon caught the shark and diverted its attacks but
unfortunately, it was only a matter of time before the marine predator
scored a hit and this it did; Galadeus had entered the water with
extremely low hit points and as such, the shark’s attack reduced him to
unconsciousness. With no ability to stay afloat, and clad in armour, he
quickly sank to the bottom of the river and drowned. The shark moved in
to finish off the meal it had found.

Shark versus Ranger...hmm, I wonder how that's going to go?

Meanwhile,
Elysia was getting very worried by the lack of information on the
whereabouts of the impetuous ranger and sent Relic up the river to see
what he could find. He reported back that there was a slick of blood on
the surface of the water but no other sign of him. Elysia and the rest
of the party entered the winch room and while Elysia flew out over the
water with her Wand of Illumination; there was little enough left of
Galadeus and she had to conclude that he was no more. His magic items
were similarly gone; a big loss to the ability of the party to take on
opponents.

The party left the dungeon, collecting their
horses and riding back down the trail towards the river crossing. The
mournful howl of wolves seemed to match their mood perfectly. This was
the first permanent loss that the party had sustained and nobody was in
much of a mood for anything other than getting back to town.

At
the ferry, they met a yellow-painted caravan driven by two short
individuals, barely half the height of the party members. They were
trying to bribe the ferry owner to take them across first but the
display of military might by the party convinced the boatman to give
them first passage.

Entering the town, the party made
their way back to their old tavern where they dumped their travelling
gear and settled down to rest. However, later on that evening, who
should they see in the tavern but the two short fellows, who were
carrying round cases full of alleged amulets of protection, magical
potions, treasure maps and other curios.

New PC? Lovely Jubbly!

Spurning
the advances of the two, who were called Delbo Barrick and his brother
Romney, they kept their own company, discussing what they were going to
do next – continue the search for Galzor and the Third or strike out on
some new adventure. As the fire cooled and the tavern’s patrons started
to head for their rooms, the party decided to do likewise, only to
encounter another short fellow; they thought initially that he was
trying to shift some dodgy gear and told him they were not interested.
He however, had other intentions; he wanted to talk to them about
joining forces.

He introduced himself as Benbo, an
associate of Delbo and Romney but one who had grown unsatisfied with the
nomadic lifestyle of hobbits, as he named their race. Many generations
ago, their homeland had been a rural idyll but something had happened
and it had long since been swallowed up by a vast and evil swampland.
Legends spoke of a hobbit champion who had a ‘holy sword’ and who had
tried to fight the source of the evil but had vanished, never to be seen
again. Alagon’s ears pricked up at the mention of the words ‘holy
sword’. Could this be the Holy Avenger that he had long been seeking?

It
did not take the party long to realise that wherever this sword was
hidden, it would be in a place full of monsters, gold and magic – in
short a perfect place for them to seek, find and plunder. Welcoming
Benbo to the group, they decided to set off for the fabled location of
the hobbit homeland, which – according to lore – could be found across
something called the Shining Plain and then over a range of mountains.
Alagon was convinced that he remembered something similar from the time
that they had visited the elves and so they decided the first step was
to retrace their steps there. They spent much of the next day buying
equipment and pack horses but Elysia and Ferros did not feel the need to
do this and headed straight for the Moat House, avoiding all encounters
on the way, including a huge brown bear, which they dealt with by
Ferros talking with it using his Speak with Animals ability, then
creating foodstuffs for which it had specified a liking.

They
arrived at the Moat House early on the morning of 21st August and the
rest of the party arrived a day later, having similarly evaded those
encounters with a potential for harm, spending time conversing with a
group of merchants who were voyaging northwards to try and find new
markets for their goods.

The party was now reunited at
the Moat House and their thoughts turned west, not to orcs, ogres and
elves but to distant vistas, evil swamps and lost swords of incredible
power. The quest had begun.

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That's what Old School means to me

"These rules are flexible and open to interpretation - designed not to cover all conceivable situations, but to allow good Referees and Players the freedom to create and play games of their own design."

from the Lulu download page for The White Box S&W from BHP

"This game is unlike chess in that the rules are not cut and dried. In many places, they are guidelines and suggested methods only. This is part of the attraction of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons"

About Me

Over halfway to 90, I started playing AD&D when the Police were a cool band and Punk was wild. I am a father to a ten-year-old Junior Grognard and have now managed to establish a five-strong gaming group made up of him and four of his friends, ages ranging from 10 to 11. Solidly Old-School.
High fives and natural 20s to you all!